27Oct15

US ship's visit to South China Sea is show of muscle before Obama's visit to
region

Guided missile destroyer USS Lassen's arrival in the South China Sea is
another show of muscle by the "world policeman" and Washington's clear
message to its allies in the Asia-Pacific Region the "big brother" is ready to
take care of their interests, polled experts have told TASS. The ship's visit to
the region was timed for US President Barack Obama's forthcoming visit to the
Philippines and Malaysia.

The USS Lassen on Monday started patrolling the 12-mile zone of artificial
islands China has built in the South China Sea, the Pentagon said. Maritime
reconnaissance planes P-8A and P3 will escort the destroyer. Washington
earlier said it would frustrate Beijing's attempts to declare the area around the
artificial islands as its territorial waters. The Chinese foreign minister on
Tuesday cautioned the United States against taking reckless steps and
creating incidents out of nowhere. In turn, Tokyo said the Japanese
government was in tight coordination with the US Administration in connection
with the latter's decision to dispatch the USS Lassen to the South China Sea.

Earlier, Beijing declared it would soon be through with earthmoving work at
several reefs of the Spratly (Nansha) Archipelago. Some countries in the
region, including Vietnam and the Philippines, have been asserting their own
sovereignty over these territories. Also, they criticize China for pushing ahead
with construction work, which, in their opinion, pursues the aim of creating
military infrastructures there.

The deputy chairman of the international affairs committee of Russia's
Federation Council (upper house of parliament), Andrei Klimov, likened the
USS Lassen's visit to the South China Sea to "playing with fire." "Russia
objects in principle to any display of military initiatives in areas of high
tensions, in particular, without consent from the specific country these
initiatives are addressed to. This by no means helps ease the tensions, but
sends them to new highs," Klimov told TASS.

"US sabre rattling near the borders of China - a permanent member of the UN
Security Council - is likely to draw questions from another UN SC member,
Russia. Nobody should feel free to make voyages there without an invitation,"
Klimov said.

The deputy director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of US and
Canada Studies, Viktor Kremenyuk, is somewhat ironic about the White
House's demarche. "A destroyer is not an aircraft carrier. The Pentagon might
have dispatched to China's shores some of its torpedo boats or a fishing ship
just as easily. The issue isn't worth a dime. It is not in the United States'
interests to foment the risk of an armed confrontation with its largest trading
and economic partner. A war with China? Such a scenario is absolutely ruled
out, in particular, in the wake of the Chinese leader Xi Jinping's successful visit
to Washington in September and the multi-billion contract signed," Kremenyuk
told TASS.

He believes that by sending the USS Lassen to the 12-mile zone around the
disputed islands Washington demonstrates support for its allies in the
Asia-Pacific Region. "Washington makes it pretty clear to its allies in the
Asia-Pacific Region that the White House is by no means flirting with China for
the sake of beneficial cooperation and that it remains a firm safeguard of their
interests. The US 7th Fleet, based in the Pacific and Indian oceans, will
remain a guarantee of that," Kremenyuk said.

"Surely, China is not going to suspend its reclamation work at the controversial
islands, whether some may like it or not. Beijing will thereby demonstrate its
firmness and independent position. The United States is perfectly aware of
that. There is no way of forcing Beijing to backtrack without triggering an
internal political crisis in China, accusations against Xi he has surrendered to
Washington and an upsurge in anti-American sentiment. The White House is
by no means interested in all that," he said.

"The United States is deliberately pouring fuel onto the conflict in the South
China Sea in accordance with the old-time crisis management theory.
Washington is provoking China into a certain response. It would like to see in
what way China might react. In the end the United States and China will
sooner or later come to terms to defuse the crisis. After all, they will surely not
dare put at risk a plethora of their trading and economic interests. That's how
the complex modern world is arranged. Rationalism prevails," Kremenyuk
stated.

And the head of the Centre for International Security under the Russian
Academy of Sciences, Aleksei Arbatov, believes that the US naval ship's visit
to the South China Sea is a warning gesture addressed to Beijing, expected to
dissuade it from declaring a 12-mile zone around the artificial islands as a
zone closed to free shipping.

"But a gesture will remain a gesture, as long as the ships' guns stay quiet.
There still remains the possibility Beijing will send its naval force to the
disputed area. Neither the United States nor China will go as far as full-scale
military confrontation. After some muscle flexing they will turn away and leave
for home," Arbatov said.

[Source: By Tamara Zamyatina, Itar Tass, Moscow, 27Oct15]

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